November 22-23, 1973 LA Forum, Los Angeles, CA
(22nd) Set List: I Can't Explain Summertime Blues My Wife My Generation I Am The Sea The Real Me Punk And The Godfather I'm One Helpless Dancer 5.15 Sea And Sand Drowned Bell Boy Dr. Jimmy Love Reign O'er Me Won't Get Fooled Again Pinball Wizard See Me, Feel Me My Generation Let's See Action Magic Bus Naked Eye Baby Don't You Do It Keith was in better form for the LA shows and the group treated the first-night crowd to a rare event at a Who concert when they came back for an encore of 'Baby Don't You Do It'. Pete also smashed one of his numbered Gibson Les Paul Deluxe guitars. Chris Charlesworth reported in Melody Maker (December 8): "19,500 fans had stomped and cheered for over 15 minutes in the Forum, refusing to leave even though the house lights had been raised and probably well aware that The Who rarely do encores. But tonight their enthusiasm was rewarded with just that. The group came back and did an encore - actually 'Baby Don't You Do It' - only the second time I've seen this happen in watching The Who around 20 times... they blasted through the song, climaxing with Townshend unstrapping the Gibson and, gripping the fretboard as if it were an axe, bringing it down on to the stage with a resounding crash time and time again until it cracked around the 12th fret." (23rd) Set List: I Can't Explain Summertime Blues My Wife My Generation I Am The Sea The Real Me Punk And The Godfather I'm One Helpless Dancer 5.15 Sea And Sand Drowned Bell Boy Dr. Jimmy Love Reign O'er Me Won't Get Fooled Again Pinball Wizard See Me, Feel Me Magic Bus Naked Eye A second house of 19,000 witnessed Quadrophenia getting off at a cracking pace with 'The Real Me' and 'Punk And The Godfather'. Even the unusual structure of 'Helpless Dancer' retained an impact. Townshend introduced 'I'm One' by saying: "I don't know if you ever get the feeling that maybe there's always somebody else that's a little bit better looking than you, a little bit better dressed than you, a little bit smarter than you, a little bit more up to the minute than you, a little bit tougher... Well, this song's about the feeling that it doesn't matter what shape you are, or small you are, or out of date you are, of how significant one is - only royalty ever say 'one'... You're still... All right." He then gave up on the explanation and began the song. After 'Helpless Dancer', Daltrey said: "That song was basically about the frustrations that happen when you get mixed up with dirty things like politics... You needn't say that in the US of A. Anyway, from there the kid is very disillusioned and like a lot of kids still today, and when we were Mods - which we never really were - he runs away from home and he runs down to the seaside. He goes to Victoria Station - there was only trains in them days... '5.15'." There followed a powerful and energetic version of this song (which had not been released as a single in America), with some fine guitar work. Towards the end of the song, Moon's drums established a beat uncannily like that of a train slowing down and the clatter of the wheels on the tracks. Daltrey introduced 'Sea And Sand' but Pete found his guitar needed tuning, and he changed it for another. Robert Hilburn had reservations in the Los Angeles Times (November 27): "The Who showed much of the power, precision and desire that made it one of rock's most rewarding and influential bands. But even the improved performance Friday didn't erase the troubling impression that the group's momentum - and therefore, importance - is waning..."